David Rutherford (born 30 April 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who last played for Diables Rouges de Briançon in the Ligue Magnus. Rutherford was previously with the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL).
Playing career Rutherford played Junior Hockey in the PJHL, BCHL, and WHL. He played for the Abbotsford Pilots in the PJHL, the Penticton Panthers, Chilliwack Chiefs, and Surrey Eagles in the BCHL, and the Vancouver Giants and Spokane Chiefs in the WHL.
Rutherford began his professional ice hockey career with the Charlotte Checkers of the ECHL during the 2008–09 season and Phoenix RoadRunners, before being traded to the Phoenix RoadRunners on 13 March 2009, along with and Brian Deeth in exchange for Steve Ward and future considerations.
On 7 December 2009, Rutherford signed with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs of the Central Hockey League, for which he would play for the 2009–10 season and 2010–11 season. Rutherford won the Ray Miron President's Cup championship with the Mudbugs for the 2010–11 season. On 26 July 2011, Rutherford returned to the ECHL by signing with the Florida Everblades.
On 6 August 2012, Rutherford signed a two-way AHL/ECHL contract with the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League, which coincidentally was affiliated with Rutherford's prior team, the Florida Everblades. Rutherford split the 2012–13 season between the Checkers and Everblades, accumulating 38 points on 16 goals and 22 assists in 36 games with the Everblades, while accumulating 7 points with 1 goal and 6 assists in 18 games with the Checkers.
On 19 August 2013, Rutherford left the Everblades and signed with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.
On 28 December 2013, Rutherford was traded to the Fort Wayne Komets in exchange for Mickey Lang. He refused to report, however, and then signed with the Arizona Sundogs of the CHL.
On 18 June 2014, Rutherford signed with Visby/Roma HK of Hockeyettan, but was released by the team on 14 September 2014. On 9 October 2014, Rutherford signed with the Missouri Mavericks of the ECHL. On 22 January 2014, Rutherford was traded to the Ontario Reign of the ECHL in exchange for Right Wing Geoff Walker.
On 17 August 2015, Rutherford signed his first contract abroad agreeing to a one-year contract with Scottish club Edinburgh Capitals of the Elite Ice Hockey League.
Rutherford left Edinburgh in January 2016, signing for Belfast Giants. Rutherford later agreed an extension to remain with the team for the 2016–17 season.
In July 2017, Rutherford announced his retirement from hockey. However, in November 2017, Rutherford reversed his decision and re-signed with Belfast until the end of the 2017/18 season. Rutherford remained in Belfast until the end of the 2018/19 season, before signing for Hungarian side DEAC of the Erste Liga in October 2019.
For the 2020/21 season, Rutherford moved to France to sign for Ligue Magnus side Diables Rouges de Briançon.
Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2003–04 Penticton Panthers BCHL 6 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2003–04 Chilliwack Chiefs BCHL 6 2 2 4 2 — — — — — 2004–05 Surrey Eagles BCHL 48 25 30 55 98 26 10 7 17 54 2004–05 Vancouver Giants WHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2005–06 Vancouver Giants WHL 41 4 6 10 44 — — — — — 2006–07 Spokane Chiefs WHL 69 31 27 58 133 6 2 0 2 13 2007–08 Spokane Chiefs WHL 52 22 21 43 65 21 9 9 18 12 2008–09 Charlotte Checkers ECHL 52 13 13 26 89 — — — — — 2008–09 Phoenix RoadRunners ECHL 12 6 4 10 22 — — — — — 2009–10 Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs CHL 41 18 20 38 62 11 2 4 6 8 2010–11 Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs CHL 58 35 32 67 70 20 12 10 22 29 2011–12 Florida Everblades ECHL 57 25 30 55 65 17 5 7 12 16 2012–13 Florida Everblades ECHL 35 16 22 38 58 13 5 6 11 22 2012–13 Charlotte Checkers AHL 18 1 6 7 12 — — — — — 2013–14 Orlando Solar Bears ECHL 21 6 3 9 32 — — — — — 2013–14 Arizona Sundogs CHL 27 14 20 34 41 11 2 11 13 18 2014–15 Missouri Mavericks ECHL 35 6 14 20 49 — — — — — 2014–15 Ontario Reign ECHL 22 8 15 23 10 15 4 7 11 10 2015–16 Edinburgh Capitals EIHL 25 14 12 26 51 — — — — — 2015–16 Belfast Giants EIHL 15 3 9 12 20 2 0 0 0 0 2016–17 Belfast Giants EIHL 41 19 24 43 58 2 0 2 2 0 2017–18 Belfast Giants EIHL 31 17 23 40 18 2 1 1 2 0 2018–19 Belfast Giants EIHL 54 18 39 57 57 — — — — — 2019–20 DEAC Erste Liga 10 7 5 12 6 1 0 0 0 0 2020–21 Diables Rouges de Briançon Ligue Magnus 3 1 0 1 27 — — — — — AHL totals 18 1 6 7 12 — — — — — ECHL totals 234 80 101 181 325 45 14 20 34 48 EIHL totals 166 71 107 178 204 6 1 3 4 0
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